Conspiracy Theories: Evolved Functions and Psychological Mechanisms

• Published in: Perspectives on psychological science Vol. 13; no. 6; pp. 770 - 788
• Main Authors: van Prooijen, Jan-Willem, van Vugt, Mark
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.11.2018; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Coalitions; Conspiracy; Cross-cultural psychology; Cues; Evolutionary psychology; Immediate; Pattern recognition; Pharmaceutical industry; Psychological mechanisms; September 11 terrorist attacks-2001; Terrorism; by-product; adaptation; evolutionary psychology; coalitions; conspiracy theories
• ISSN: 1745-6916; 1745-6924
• DOI: 10.1177/1745691618774270

Belief in conspiracy theories—such as that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were an inside job or that the pharmaceutical industry deliberately spreads diseases—is a widespread and culturally universal phenomenon. Why do so many people around the globe believe conspiracy theories, and why are they so influential? Previous research focused on the proximate mechanisms underlying conspiracy beliefs but ignored the distal, evolutionary origins and functions. We review evidence pertaining to two competing evolutionary hypotheses: (a) conspiracy beliefs are a by-product of a suite of psychological mechanisms (e.g., pattern recognition, agency detection, threat management, alliance detection) that evolved for different reasons, or (b) conspiracy beliefs are part of an evolved psychological mechanism specifically aimed at detecting dangerous coalitions. This latter perspective assumes that conspiracy theories are activated after specific coalition cues, which produce functional counterstrategies to cope with suspected conspiracies. Insights from social, cultural and evolutionary psychology provide tentative support for six propositions that follow from the adaptation hypothesis. We propose that people possess a functionally integrated mental system to detect conspiracies that in all likelihood has been shaped in an ancestral human environment in which hostile coalitions—that is, conspiracies that truly existed—were a frequent cause of misery, death, and reproductive loss.